Sticky toffee pudding
Gü, 240g, £1.99 www.gupuds.com
This is a lovely pud. Nice and rich. Give it a good mix and you'll find plenty of sauce. Tastes fantastic.
5 stars
Sainsbury's taste the difference, 400g, £2.89
This has an authentic flavour and the sponge is nice and wet. This is nice.
4 stars
Cartmell Village Shop, 390g, £7.95, Waitrose
Very sticky and a bit too dense. Could do with more sauce. But this is not a bad little number.
3 stars
M&S, 295g, £3.49
This tastes of treacle rather than toffee. Dry and deeply unpalatable.
No stars
Swaddles, 750g, £8.49, 0845 456 1768
Drowning in a grainy sauce. Takes an hour to cook, but tasted bitter.
No stars
Farm House Fare luxury sticky dickie pudding, 500g, £3.49, 01200 453110
This is far too doughy, like a loaf of bread. Not enough sauce.
2 stars
Heinz, 285g, 99p, widely available
This has a synthetic taste and only a few raisins.
1 star
Waitrose 2 x 225g, £2.59
Flavourless custard. Looks unappealing.
No stars
Asda, 2 x 150g, £1
This looks OK, but it tastes metallic.
No stars
Somerfield, 300g, £1.39
This tastes as though it's been around since the year I was born.
No stars
Trifle
M&S fruit trifle, 500g, £2.09
The right contents for good trifle. Could do with some sherry.
4 stars
Sainsbury's fruit trifle, 600g, £1.59
They've exaggerated the custard. It looks very off-putting. Tastes OK.
2 stars
The Serious Food Company beaujolais and blackberry, 145g, £1.99, 01753 552488
Yuk. This looks lovely, but tastes horrible.
1 star
Asda extra special sherry trifle, 755g, £3.68
This is very heavy, a lot of cream. Bland but for the alcohol.
No stars
Cadbury's light trifle, 270g, £1.48, widely available
Chocolate in a trifle? Not right. And cheap presentation.
No stars
Banoffee pie
M&S, 470g, £3.99
Can taste condensed milk and bananas, plus it has a lovely biscuity base Presentation not too hot though.
4 stars
Tesco finest, 522g, £2.95
This looks weird, though it doesn't taste quite as bad as it looks. But there is not enough banana.
3 stars
Waitrose, 670g, £4.99
The cream tastes very artificial and it's far too sweet. Not very impressive.
2 stars
Somerfield best ever, 522g, £3.09
This doesn't taste anything like banoffee.
1 star
Asda, 135g, 88p
Everything tastes like an artificial replacement for the real ingredients.
No stars
Cheesecake
M&S zesty lemon, 125 x2, £1.99
I expected a real lemon tanginess but it's just overly sweet.
3 stars
Waitrose New York slices, x2, £1.99
These don't taste of anything. They're just rich and sickly.
1 star
Tesco finest strawberry, x2, £2.35
There's nothing fresh about the topping. This tastes as though it's long-life fruit. The whole cake feels soggy.
No stars
Heal Farm morello cherry 975g, £15.58
This is not a cheesecake. It's a fruit pie. Where's the biscuity base?
No stars
Asda extra special New York vanilla, 500g, £3
Totally synthetic taste. The filling flavour overwhelms everything.
No stars
Chocolate mousse
Gü cheeky & saucy little pots aü chocolat, 3 x 50g, £1.69
These are the perfect size because they're very rich. Fab.
5 stars
Pret a Manger chocolate Moose, 90g, £1.80, www.pret.com
Good balance between the trio of chocolate. 4 stars
The Serious Food Company, 120g, £1.99
If you go all out on looks, you need to deliver on taste. This didn't.
2 stars
Asda extra special Belgian, 120g, £0.68
This is boring. It doesn't taste of much except sugar.
1 star
M&S, 90g, 55p
This is too light, there's not enough texture. And there's virtually no taste of chocolate. Don't like this at all.
No stars
Chocolate cake
M&S chocolate fudge cake, 460g, £2.99
Moist sponge with just the right amount of topping. With cream, this would be rocking.
5 stars
The Chocolate Society chocolate cake, 600g, £19.90, 0845 230 8899
Lovely appearance. Good layering with plenty of filling. Perfect afternoon treat.
4 stars
More Food Ltd Handmade Delights chocolate fudge cake, 800g, £4.99, 0870 050 0158
Too much sponge and an overly rich fudge topping.
2 stars
Morrison's the best chocolate cake, £1.65
Buttery icing isn't very chocolatey. Interior's better.
2 stars
Meg Rivers chocolate cake, 900g, £9.95
Very, very dense. It's not that it's dry, it's just lacking in any character. 1 star
Hot chocolate puds
Farm House Fare luxury organic sticky pudding, 500g, £3.49
Sauce is nice and runny and the sponge has a good texture - not too clumpy.
4 stars
M&S melting middle puddings, 2 x 155g, £2.49 Bit floury, but apart from that fine. Lots of sauce.
4 stars
Gü hot chocolate lava tarts, 2 x 120g, £2.99
I don't like this at all. Looked promising, but just thin and soggy.
1 star
Morrison's double chocolate chip with chocolate sauce, 500g, £2.59
This is just mush. You can't distinguish any separate flavours.
No stars
Sainsbury's chocolate melting middle puddings, 2 x 150g, £1.79
Virtually no sauce. It's just very dense sponge.
No stars
Profiteroles
Waitrose, 390g, £2.99
Good quality chocolate and the pastry has more moisture than the others.
3 stars
M&S, 300g, £2.99
These profiteroles have plenty of filling, but they taste a bit greasy. And the chocolate tastes cheap.
2 stars
Sainsbury's taste the difference, £2.99
Chocolate just tastes of vegetable fat and sours the taste of the rest of the dessert.
1 star
Casa Barelli, 2 x 100g, 99p, available from Aldi
This is more of a chocolate mousse with some pastry inside. Far too much sauce.
No stars
Budgens, 450g, £3.09
This tastes like a long-life product. This is just convenience food.
No stars
Tarte tatin
Heal Farm, 1200g, £11, 01769 574 341
Looks good. Nice and thin. It's a little bit dry. It needs some sugar. But it's really not bad.
4 stars
Tesco finest French apple tarte, 550g, £2.95
OK. Tarte tatin's not a rocket science recipe, but this isn't bad.
3 stars
Waitrose, x2, £2.59
They taste OK, very caramely, but when you take off the pastry lid , there's too few baked apples.
3 stars
Paul Tarte Normande, 400g, £14 , www.paul-uk.com, 020 7353 5874
Not strictly a tarte tatin; the apples are disappointing.
3 stars
Sainsbury's taste the difference, £2.99
This is absolute rubbish. It's the wrong type of pastry for a tart, this is a pie. The apples are nice though.
No stars
Tarte au citron
M&S, 550g, £3.99
Nice buttery base. Good strong lemon flavour. Very nice.
4 stars
Waitrose, x2, £2.59
Nicely presented and has a delicate flavour. But the pastry's too soft.
3 stars
Tesco finest, 490g, £2.95
I don't like the consistency of this. But at least it's quite lemony.
2 stars
Sainsbury's taste the difference, £3.29
The glaze scares me. Why is there white chocolate on it?
2 stars
Morrison's the best, £2.99
This is bad. It tastes like a pie filled with cheap lemon curd. And there's a long-life aftertaste.
No stars
Bakewell tart
Heal Farm, 975g, £16.50
The base is a bit deep-pan and there's a lot of fruit. I'd prefer slightly less fruit.
4 stars
Meg Rivers, £5.95. 01608 682858
I don't like this. It's too dry. It looks as if it's homemade, but it definitely doesn't taste as if it is.
2 stars
Mr Kipling cherry bakewells, x6, £1.15, widely available
These are very sweet. All I can taste is jam. Awful.
No stars
Sainsbury's basics cherry bakewells x6, 43p
Pastry looks uncooked and there's an overwhelming amount of icing and marzipan essence.
No stars
Tesco cherry bakewells, 6 x 39g, 71p
These look dreadful. They taste dry and horrifyingly sweet.
No stars
Fruit tart
Sainsbury's taste the difference tarte aux abricots, £3.79
You can really taste the fruit and the frangipane. Nice.
3 stars
Heal Farm orange & green cardamom tart, 800g, £14.50
More like a cheesecake. A tart should be much thinner.
1 star
Paul blueberry tart, 400g, £15 Looks great, but lacks flavour. Decent amount of fruit, but pastry not good enough.
1 star
Aldi continental plum tart, 1250g, £2.49,
Filling's really sour andthe pastry is very unappetising. Tastes half cooked.
1 star
Waitrose raspberry tarts, x4, £2.49
These look like something my daughter might have made. They are far too sugary.
No stars
Set desserts
Sainsbury's crème brûlées, 2 x 100g, £1.69
These looks good and come with a little packet of sugar so you can caramelise the top of the pudding.
5 stars
M&S crème caramel, 2 x 120g, £1.59
The caramel just doesn't taste caramelised. Disappointing.
2 stars
Frü passionfruit crème Frûlée, 90g, £1.59, www.gupuds.com
This tastes very bitter. Not nice.
1 star
The Serious Food Company trio of crème brûlée, 130g, £3.99
No burnt sugar! Presentation is better than taste.
No stars
Budgens caramel panna cotta 2 x 120g, £1.59
I don't like this at all. The sauce completely overwhelms the custard.
No stars
Rice pudding
Rachel's organic divine rice, 2x150g, £1.08, 01970 625 805
There's a slightly UHT taste, but it's OK.
2 stars
The Real Eating Co, 300g, £5, 01273 221 444
This is so disappointing. There's lots of texture, but it just doesn't do much in terms of taste.
1 star
M&S clotted, 500g, £2.19
Looks good, but it has no flavour.
No stars
Sainsbury's taste the difference clotted cream, 500g, £1.99
Vile. No flavour. Clings to the tongue.
No stars
Waitrose clotted cream, 2 x 150g, £1.89
This really doesn't work.
No stars
Custard
The Real Eating Company fresh vanilla custard, 290g, £1.95 Light, frothy, full of vanilla. Good classic.
5 stars
M&S luxury thick and creamy custard, 500g, £1.59
Oooh, they've really made an effort with this. It's nice and thick. Lovely.
5 stars
Asda extra special creamy custard, 500g, £1.38
This is decent, though I'm not quite getting a really fresh custard flavour. Could do with more vanilla.
3 stars
Waitrose fresh vanilla custard, 500g, £1.65
This tastes very like the previous one. It's not bad.
3 stars
Ambrosia Devon custard, 425g, 60p, widely available
This is a shocker, like being back at school. Tasteless. No stars
Crumble
Farm House Fare apple & blackberry 500g, from £3.25
Lots of different flavours. It has a nice tanginess. Not bad.
3 stars
M&S Bramley apple 580g, £2.49 This is too gloopy, but it could be worse.
2 stars
Waitrose apple, 600g, £2.19
This is very glutinous. It needs custard to disguise how stodgy it is. I wouldn't buy this.
1 star
Somerfield apple, 390g, £1.59
There's too much crumble on this and it tastes very floury. It looks so insipid. Revolting. No stars
Sainsbury's taste the difference Bramley apple, 530g, £2.65
This is a crime against the taste buds.
No stars
Fruit salad
M&S layered rainbow salad, 350g, £3.99
Beautiful presentation. This looks absolutely lovely. Tastes great too. Nice use of melon.
5 stars
Pret fresh fruit, 315g, £1.99
Mango doesn't taste of mango. Watermelon is soggy. Pot has one generic fruit taste. I do like the use of blueberries though.
2 stars
Asda sunshine fruit salad, 700g, £2.88
There's a variety of fruit, but none of its of a good quality. The kiwi's awful. No effort with presentation.
1 star
Sainsbury's, 200g, £1.29
This is a sad little tray. The fruit's a bad colour. It looks completely unappetising.
1 star
Waitrose fresh fruit medley, 480g, £2.99
The orange tastes fizzy. The strawberries are soggy ....
No stars
Meringues
The Chocolate Society meringue in chocolate, 40g, £1.95
Nice squidgy centre and the chocolate's good.
4 stars
M&S cream meringues, £1.49
These are OK. They're a refrigerated pudding as they have a cream filling so have a slight advantage.
3 stars
Asda extra special nests, 123g, £1.18
Dry, centre not gooey enough.
1 star
Morrison's the best meringue nests, x8, £1.18
All you can taste is sugar.
No stars
Sainsbury's meringue nests, 124g, 78p
Taste of chemicals and are ridiculously dry.
No stars
